Allentown's Puerto Rican festival and parade draws thousands

Allentown's Jordan Park was awash with red, white and blue this afternoon as thousands descended to celebrate the city's first Puerto Rican cultural festival since 2008.

Many attendees wore clothing bearing the Puerto Rican colors, and the country's flag flew outside some houses on nearby streets. A flag-raising ceremony at Allentown City Hall and parade along Fifth and Hamilton streets kicked off the day's festivities.

The event featured both English- and Spanish-language musicians performing on a main stage as well as tents selling Puerto Rican dishes. Caribbean specialties included cuajitos, or hog maws, and pinchos, or grilled kebabs.

Allentown resident Blanca Lopez, whose husband is a DJ for the radio program "Latin Sunday" on Muhlenberg College's 91.7 FM, attended the event with her family. Lopez's five children rode in the parade wearing colorful vejigante masks. The masks have been worn for centuries by participants in Puerto Rican festival celebrations to symbolize resistance to colonialism.

"It's a major tradition in Puerto Rico, and it's great to keep it alive and teach the kids about it," Lopez said.

Lizbeth Santos, of Allentown, a first-time attendee of the city's Puerto Rican festivities, said today's event was all about celebrating with family and friends as a community.

"It's pretty much everyone here together," Santos said.?

That sentiment was echoed by Juliano Ruiz and Miguez Gonzalez, both of whom wore Puerto Rican-themed attire and said they attended multiple cultural festivals in the city as children.

"It's this big tradition with our families," Gonzalez said. "I just love to come up here -- everything's been fun."

Source: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/allentown/index.ssf/2012/07/allentowns_puerto_rican_festiv.html

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